Cotterell: Morgan says CRA case is unfair to Gillum

With his campaign for governor hobbled by an FBI investigation in which he insists he’s just an innocent bystander, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum got some moral support last week from a surprising source.

But then, John Morgan is a surprising candidate for governor.

He’s not even a real candidate yet, and may not become one. But he led a recent poll of real and potential candidates, due largely to his sui generis persona.

Floridians haven’t seen such an original politician since Gov. Claude Kirk kept us entertained 50 years ago. Morgan, known statewide for his “For the People” TV commercials and the two constitutional amendment campaigns that led to medicinal use of marijuana, is doing this thing his way.

Gillum’s campaign has been clouded by the FBI investigation of the local Community Redevelopment Agency. He was not among those served with subpoenas in June but the feds have, for two years, been skulking around his town.

Apparently, whether it touches Gillum or not, the ethical climate is enough to make a Chicago alderman wince.

The mayor hasn’t helped himself by stonewalling some questions about a trip to New York with a lobbyist friend and an undercover FBI agent who was getting to know local business and government officials dealing with the CRA. There’s even a photo of Gillum and his lobbyist pal with the FBI guy on a boat in New York harbor, smiling broadly while the Statue of Liberty tries to look nonchalant in the background.

Gillum’s task right now is to get well-known around the state. And what most voters know about him, if they’ve heard about him at all, is a vague notion of, “Oh, yeah, he’s the one with that grand jury stuff and the FBI and the subpoenas...”

A couple of weekends ago, Gillum expressed his frustration, saying he wishes the investigators would bring this thing in for a landing. Morgan took to Twitter last week to defend the mayor — social media being the way we handle important government and political matters nowadays.

Gillum might have wished the learned counsel had found a different phrase than “need to file charges,” but Morgan said he was not Tweeting crocodile tears. He really believes “Presumed Innocent” is not just the title of a Scott Turow novel.

“He can’t raise money with this hanging in the air,” Morgan said in another Tweet. “Give him a chance for a fair fight! #JusticeMatters.”

For good measure, he added, “There is a strong presumption of innocence in this country. Anything other than that is just flat wrong. #Justice.”

Usually, when your opponent has some nagging handicap during a political primary campaign, you don’t mention it. But you might want to mention that you’re not mentioning it, so everyone knows you’re fighting fair.

Morgan is certainly right about the impact of the CRA case on Gillum’s fundraising. He was off to a fast start, for a little-known Democrat, before the subpoenas were served in the CRA case in June. There was a spring slump that Gillum attributed partly to his taking time off from the campaign for the birth of his new son. But then, in July, his campaign and a committee supporting him reported raising only $60,000.

That was last among Democratic candidates — who, of course, are also lagging behind potential Republican nominees. We won’t know his August fundraising for another week or so.

Morgan has no such worries. Assuming he runs, he can finance his own campaign, like Gov. Rick Scott did in 2010.

There’s no downside to empathizing with Gillum’s predicament. As head of a huge law firm, it’s hardly surprising that Morgan takes that “innocent until proved guilty” stuff seriously.

Most people claim to believe it, too, but we don’t, really — particularly not when a celebrity is accused, and especially not when that celebrity is a politician. We instinctively tend to believe the worst about them.

Should he find himself on a stage for a primary debate with Gillum and the other Democratic contenders, and if the CRA investigation is still afoot next year, Morgan said, “would be off-limits for me.”

“Look what happened with Hillary Clinton,” Morgan said in an interview. “The FBI investigation probably cost her the election.”

Bill Cotterell is a retired Tallahassee Democrat reporter who writes a twice-weekly column. He can be reached at bcotterell@tallahassee.com